Travel Blog: Day 138

OK, so nobody else wants a postcard? I put this question at the beginning of this post because I figured that lots of people only read the first few sentences that appear on Facebook…

But now to something completely different…as the world’s best comedy group would have said. I finished my last post telling you about my short trip to the Whitsunday Islands. To make it short: it was incredible! Best thing I have done in Australia! I decided to go on a boat which was almost brand new and had its focus on diving and chilling, rather than one of the big party boats. It was a little more expensive but it surely provided more luxury. When we got on the boat we were all rushed into the common are where some snacks were already waiting for us. There we were given some briefings about the life on board, diving and snorkeling etc. When we got outside onto the deck for the first time I instantly realized that this was going to be a great trip. The crew was caring and entertaining and ‘mom’ always kept us well fed. Honestly, this was the best food I had in quite a while! The boat itself and the other travelers were very nice – and luckily there was only one other German.

On our first day we made our way to Blue Perl Bay on Hayman Island – our first diving site. We only had 3 certified divers on board so all the others (obviously including me) made a little introductory dive there. We started in shallow water where we would get used to breathing under water….and then we were off. Saw lots of fish there (one Nemo) and I felt like being in a huge aquarium. The fish and the corals were way more colorful compared to my first dive in Columbia. This is not to say that there are no good dives sites there, it’s just that in Columbia we dived really close to Santa Marta harbor.

After the dive I went snorkeling discovering still more exciting things about the underwater life in the Great Barrier Reef. Back on board we had some snacks and later dinner. Then we would all gather in the common room to get a little lecture about marine life and were shown the pictures of the day on a big plasma TV. Some things that I remember:

• - Turtles eat jelly fish…and get high from that. Remember the turtles in “Finding Nemo”?
• - All Clownfish are born as males. There is only one female in every ‘family’. When this one dies the most dominant male turns into a female.
• -‘Loser Fish’ (I forgot the real name) stay together with their partner for their whole life. They are always seen swimming in pairs. If one partner dies, the other one dies shortly after. I personally don’t like to call these creatures ‘Loser Fish’…

After the slide show everybody went back outside to enjoy the sunset. When the sun was gone and the stars came out you cannot be surprised to hear that the view was amazing. With no big cities nearby polluting the night sky with their light, you could see a lot more stars that in your average Western European sky. I even spotted four or five shooting stars!

The next day began with breakfast in Tongue Bay where we spotted a few turtles coming up for their morning air. The rest of the day consisted of two more dives and some time on Whitehaven Beach – where all the ‘funny’ pictures were taken. The certified divers went for another dive at night time. Wish I could have joined them.

On the last day I missed out on the diving opportunity for two reasons. I was disappointed of the visibility on the afternoon dive the day before. And I quite possibly had broken my toe slipping on the stairs, so I could not put on my right flipper. I just went snorkeling instead…with only one flipper. Made me feel quite like Nemo with his lucky fin :-)

After that we motor sailed back to Airlie Beach where this great adventure came to a close at around 11am. If you ever go to Australia’s east coast this is something you should definitely do. And if you are into diving spend some extra money on a 3-day trip that takes you to the Outer Reef for one day. I’ve been told the visibility there is way better than close to the Whitsundays.

The day ended for me in a 10 hour night bus to Cairns where I am right now. I wish the busses here in Australia were as good as the ones in South America. I hardly caught any sleep. This is one reason why I am not quite eager to discover the city on foot today, even though I am leaving here again tomorrow. Next time you hear from me I am probably going to be in Thailand!

Travel Blog: Day 134

Remember I told you about the 7am bus I had to take early on my birthday? Guess what – I missed it. I woke up at 7:49 and hurried over to the bus terminal. Luckily it only cost me 4$ to get me a seat on the next bus. I phoned the hostel in Rainbow Beach to tell them I would come later and was told that I might have to move my Fraser Island trip back one day because I would miss the briefing. I tried to invoke some pity by mentioning that it was my birthday and the lady on the phone told me that we would ‘work something out’.
When I arrived in Rainbow Beach the briefing was just over, but Heidi (the woman from the phone) told me that I just needed to watch a couple of videos on my own and that I would still be able to go to Fraser Island the next day. She later brought me a big muffin with 4 candles stuck on top and sang ‘Happy Birthday’ for me. How sweet!
After breakfast the next morning our group (20 people) started checking the equipment and packing it onto two Toyota Landcruisers….under the supervision of Chris, our ‘guide’. Since this was a self-drive-tour, Chris would not come with us but he prepared us as good as possible. After the two cars were packed, he gave the drivers a quick introduction on how to drive a 4WD. Then we were off. I was first to drive in our half of the group (group 1, yeah!) which consisted of a Spanish guy, a French guy, an English guy, an Irish girl, an Israeli girl, two Swedish girls and two Finnish girls…and me, of course. It took us about 15 minutes to get to the ferry and only 10 minutes across to Fraser Island. This is where the fun driving part began. It was quite an experience to master the 4.2 Liter diesel engine and make the Toyota grind through the sand of the never ending beach. The island itself sure is beautiful. But with all respect – after driving along the beach for 2 hours, this part gets boring after a while. Especially because swimming is not allowed due to jelly fish and sharks.
Our first stop was Lake Wabby. A beautiful lake surrounded on three sides by rainforest and on one side by a massive sand dune. Have I mentioned, that Fraser Island is one of the biggest (or THE biggest?) sand islands in the world? Anyways, the water was really warm and enjoyable. Only the thousands of horse flies spoiled the experience somewhat. From Lake Wabby we drove further north to our camping ground, passing the wreck of the ‘Maheno’ – a former cruise ship which was later used for target training by the Royal Australian Air Force. At the campground we put up our tents, prepared dinner (hamburgers) and spent the rest of the night having a good time and consuming quite a bit of goon (cheap Australian wine that comes in 4 liter cardbox boxes) in the course of it. At one point we had a dingo visit us. He came as close as 10 meters. But we were all well instructed about what to do in a situation like this: if a dingo approaches you, you cross your arms in front of you and slowly move backwards. If the dingo still attacks you, you have to fight back aggressively. Since both of these actions sound somehow ridiculous when being attacked by a wild animal, they became a kind of running joke in our group. ‘Our’ dingo moved away without us having to attack him aggressively.
The second day was spent driving along the beach to Indian Head – the only rock formation on the Island – and afterwards to Eurong Resort, where we had lunch. From there an inland track called the ‘washing machine’ took us to our second campground. I was looking forward to be driving on this track but the constant rain made it really hard to spot the potholes. After we arrived at the campground the rain continued for another 2 or 3 hours so most of us just sat in the car waiting. The second evening was not nearly as lively as the first one since almost everybody was still a little hung over.
One the third day we finally got to see the main attraction of the island: Lake McKenzie. This is the perfect white beach and the clear blue water you will see on almost every Fraser Island postcard. This spot is incredibly beautiful. I just wish that we had had more time to spend there. After only a few hours there we had to get going to get back to Rainbow Beach on time.
So this was my trip to Fraser Island. I hope you enjoy the pictures. After the trip I spend another two nights in Rainbow beach before I went farther north to Hervey Bay. Here I spend only one night but was able to see the millions of bats that fly over the village on their nightly trip to Fraser Island. Quite impressive!
After a 13 hour bus ride I arrived in Airlie Beach today where I booked a 2days/2nights sailing trip around the Whitsunday Islands starting tomorrow. When this is done I have completed the main things I wanted to do in Australia. I know that there is tons more to do and even in a year you cannot do everything, but I still figured that I initially planned to spend too much time her e. And since there are way too many Germans around here I thought I might as well go see some other country while I am down here. The result of these considerations is that I will fly to Thailand for three weeks to dive into a completely different culture.

Travel Blog: Day 126

Let’s start this post with a little anecdote: On my flight to Sydney I ordered a beer on the plane as I always do if it’s not before lunch time J The steward gave me the beer and at the same moment told me that this was six dollars. That took me by surprise since beer on all of my other flights on this trip (all companies belonging to the “one world” alliance) was for free. Not wanting to lose my face I gave him a 20 dollar bill. He said he was going to give me my change later. Luckily, a few minutes later a stewardess came by and handed me my 20 back, saying it was OK. I don’t know if my world renowned charm made the difference or if they just didn’t have any change. Anyway – this gave me a taste of what lay ahead of me when it comes to prices in Australia.

My time in Sydney I spent walking around the city (taking tons of pictures of the two main icons: the opera house and the harbor bridge) and on both Manly Beach and Bondi Beach. I also explored the night life in Kings Cross – an area famous for its backpacker hostels and strip joints – and spent evenings drinking wine in Hyde Park.

During my days in Sydney I learned a few things about Australia (incomplete list)

• Australia’s mainland was attacked in World War II by Japanese bombers
• Australia is trying to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022
• Burger King is called “Hungry Jack’s” because there already was some take-away place called “Burger King” before the “real one“ opened its first restaurant

The next stop for me was Surfer’s Paradise on the Gold Coast. Now, I don’t know why this place is called Surfer’s Paradise. In my imagination of paradise there are no high rise buildings casting their shadows onto the beach. Also in ‘my’ paradise there would not nearly be as much rain. To be fair though, the weather there isn’t always as bad as I experienced it. I did get a few hours in the sun and had my first cautious attempts on a body board…you might call it surfing for dummies.

I still had a great time in Surfer’s…but this has nothing to do with the settings…and definitely not with the weather.

OK, so now I am in Brisbane where I walked around the city again and spent some time at the city beach in the South Bank Parklands. I also used the day to organize a tour to Fraser Island. Tomorrow morning I will board a 5-hour bus at 7 in the morning that takes me to Rainbow Beach. There I will meet my 8 fellow travelers that will accompany me on a 3day/2nights tour to Fraser Island. Since there are no paved roads on the island the only means of transportation is by four wheel drive vehicles. Should be fun!

I haven’t written any postcards in a while. If anybody has not received one so far, just give me your address and I will send you one. Remember: I will not bring home any presents or souvenirs whatsoever. So those postcards are all you can get. Go for it!

And last but not least here is my updated book list. Can’t imagine that this would be interesting for any of you but I always wanted to start a list for my own and this seems to be at least a start.

• "Book of the Dead" by Patricia Cornwell
• "Blutzoll" by Elisabeth Egholm
• "The Broken Window" by Jeffery Deaver
• "Tomorrow, When the War Began" by John Marsden
• "Hollowpoint" by Robert Reuland
• "A Deadly Indifference" by Marshall Jevons
• "Frameshift" by Robert J. Swayer
• "Op-Center" by Tom Clancy